


5 Times Archie Was There For A Serpent And The One Time They Were There For Him

by nobodys_princess12



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: A little spoiler in the notes..., But She's Saved, Drowning, F/F, Fuck Hiram Lodge, He's still in jail in this, Hermione Is Good I Guess???, Hurt Archie Andrews, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, M/M, School Shootings, be warned, no one likes him
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-25
Updated: 2018-12-20
Packaged: 2019-05-13 12:46:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 9,969
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14749133
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nobodys_princess12/pseuds/nobodys_princess12
Summary: The title really says it all...?





	1. Toni

**Author's Note:**

> One of the chapters is going to be based a little on an episode but just know that because Hiram is like not a person in this (because I hate him..) Archie doesn't get framed for murder and he has a NICE, STABLE relationship with Jughead.

Archie knew not all the Serpents wanted Veronica, Betty, and him around. Sure they had made up with some of them when all the teens changed to Riverdale High but some of the older members were still uneasy. They've dealt with Northsiders trying to in them as the bad guys; so when they have four of them coming in they didn't really know what to think. Then again FP's son trusted them so the Serpents were going to give the Northside Teens a chance. So when FP decided that he was going to give them all a break they agreed on going to SweetWater River. What could possibly go wrong there?

* * *

The day was bright and sunny, a perfect day for swimming. FP was there with the rest of the Serpents and even Fred decided to join them. Toni and Archie were already in the water while Cheryl sat in a chair with her vibrant red bathing suit making her stand out. Not everyone had brought suits but most of them were already in them and out by the shore. Betty had her hand held tightly with Veronica while they tried talking Sweet Pea into doing something stupid. FP was off to the side talking to Fred as they argued on something that they did in the past. 

"Toni darling!" Cheryl yelled and pushed her sunglasses down lightly,"Mind the rip currents that are further out!"

Toni smiled at her girlfriend's clearly worried voice and she just smiled and put a thumbs up.

"I'm a strong swimmer!" She yelled back and went back to trying to beat Archie,"How is it that you can swim so fast?"

"Ove the summer it's one of the things I liked to do in my free time," Archie said with a nervous smile. 

Toni laughed and went out a little further. 

"Come on _Northsider_ ," She said and swam away from him. 

Archie didn't really go out with her but he smiled at her happy look in her eyes. He turned back towards the shore and spotted some of the Serpents out by the shore and talking with each other. He quickly turned when he heard a gasp and saw Toni further away from him but she went under. She came back up again with a panicked look but then went under again. Adrenaline immediately started running through his veins and he swam out to her. Far away he could hear Cheryl starting to freak out and people yelling at her to stand back. His main goal was getting to Toni and getting her back to shore as quickly as possible. Once he got closer to her, Archie started to feel the current fighting against him and it got harder and harder to swim. When he got to the girl her arms were starting to flail around and she was gasping for air but then the current pulled them both under. The borderline panic that ran through both their veins started to mess with their instincts and Archie gave a panicked gasp and released some of his air. Toni looked down and her eyes held fear as she saw the darkened bottom of the river and tried swimming up again. Archie grabbed her arm and tried to pull her up but her focus was on getting up and that caused her to kick him in the shin. He let out the rest of his air in a pained gasp and started to swim towards the surface to get more. Meanwhile, Toni was starting to feel heavy and her vision started to blur. She tried to fight the current more but then her body went limp. The last thing she saw before her vision blacked out was Archie swimming down to her.

* * *

Off on the shore, Cheryl was being held back by Jughead while fighting to get out of his hold.

"Let me go," She said and her eyes started with weal with tears. 

"And have you go under too?" Jughead snapped and Cheryl turned to see his eyes holding worry,"You don't think I'm worried too?" 

She went limp and gave a little sorry before looking out at the water. Archie had emerged for a quick second of breath but was under a second time. Betty and Veronica were out by the shallow part of the water where 90% of the Serpents were. FP and Fred had run over when they heard Cheryl's cry of fear and were now being held back. Finally, Archie's head popped out of shore and everyone held their breath. He started swimming towards them but they could all see he was having a hard time and with the extra weight of Toni's limp form it didn't make anything better. After what felt like hours Archie had swum a good distance and a couple of Serpents grabbed the girl and two others helped him out of the water. Jughead released Cheryl and the redhead ran towards her unconscious girlfriend while he ran towards Archie. Fred was already by his son's side and was patting his back but he moved out of the way when Jughead got close enough. 

"Are you ok?" Jughead asked the boy and he gave me a couple minutes to catch his breath. 

"I'm ok," Archie said with a smile and looked towards Toni who was getting CPR. 

He got up on slightly shaky legs and started to walk towards the girl. He didn't see it but multiple Serpents gave him respected looks. They all held their breaths again but cheered when Toni coughed up water and started gasping to try and get the air in her lungs again. She started flailing her arms around when she thought she was still in the water but Cheryl wrapper her arms around the teen and Toni relaxed. 

"I told you to be careful," Cheryl scowled and hugged Toni tighter. 

"I didn't think that it would be so strong," She replied and chuckled when she saw everyone's faces. 

"I have to repay you again Archie," Cheryl said and looked at the redhead,"This is the second time you've saved someone from the water." 

"The second time?" FP asked,"Who was the first?"

There was silence that followed the question but then Cheryl rolled her eyes. 

"It was me," She said,"When the ice was frozen I went out and broke the ice. It was on purpose so don't say I was stupid."

"Is that how you hurt your hand?" Fred asked and turned to his son who in return scratched the back of his neck. 

"I had to punch the ice because the current caught her and started to carry her away from the hole she made," He said and now Toni was looking at him in respect. 

"Well as much as I love this sweet little moment," Sweet pea said but you could tell just a little bit that he was worried at Toni as well,"This is the first day that has been nice and I want to get back to all the fun." 

"Of course you would ruin the moment," Someone muttered to themselves and there were some laughs around them. 

Slowly people started to get back to what they were doing but Jughead stayed with Archie and Toni didn't go back in the water. Betty and Veronica smirked at the boys and started whispering to themselves but at the end of the day, they all had a fun time. FP went back to talking to Fred but this time he paid more attention to the water and looked at everyone that went in even a little bit.

 

 


	2. FP (And Maybe Jughead?)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that this update took so long. Exams are coming up so there might not be an update till I'm done with those! :(

FP sat outside on the Andrews' porch. He came to pick up Jughead so that they can head over to the Whyte Wyrm to meet with the rest of the Serpents. The night before, Archie took Jughead out to the movies and then they went to Archie's house so that they can eat. FP turned towards the door when he heard it open and was met with the sight of Archie Andrews in a dark grey t-shirt and some sweatpants. 

"Jughead will be out in a couple minutes," Archie said when he saw the man,"He's packing his stuff up and taking some of the things that he forgot to take with him when he moved out."

"Thanks for taking care of him when I couldn't," FP said and Archie raised a brow in surprise at the apology,"I know I haven't always been the best dad." 

"Well this is a chance to try and change that," Archie said and closed the front door all the while making eye contact with FP. 

That's something the man would always respect about the boy. Even in times when FP came home drunk a couple of times, Archie would look him straight in the eyes and say his mind, even if it was arguing with him.

"I don't get you," FP said after a while,"You've always been there for Jughead in my mind yet sometimes you feel like you've never been there for him."

"Over the summer," Archie said and then paused for a bit,"We were supposed to go on a road trip, at the last minute I called it off because I was with someone. After that, we drifted and then I wasn't there for him."

"Jug told me about that woman," FP said slowly,"From what I understood she was someone that used you only for pleasure. There are messed up people in the world Archie, you can't beat yourself up for some of the things that they do. She was using you and yeah you are at fault for some of it but it was mainly her." 

"You know..." the teen said after a while,"Jughead doesn't hate you, sure he was mad for a while but not once did he hate you." 

FP gave a smirk but that was something he needed to hear. When he heard his kid was staying with Fred he was ok with it because he knew Jughead would get his shit together there. When Jughead has the confidence to tell him that he was into Archie, FP was finally thinking he had a chance to repair his relationship with his son. Not even two seconds Jughead ran out with a bag around his arm and a slight smile on his face. 

"Hey," He said, out of breath slightly. 

Archie smiled and gave Jughead a little hug before running down the porch stairs and taking off down the street. 

"What was happening?" Jughead asked his dad and FP just shrugged. 

"Talking about some stuff."

Jughead raised an eyebrow but then shrugged and started walking with his dad down to the Southside.

* * *

 

A few weeks after FP had the talk with Archie, Jughead and himself got into a huge fight. On one hand, FP didn't want Jughead to get involved with some of the deals the Serpents got. However, his son wanted to be able to help with a lot of things. Like the fact that Toni was sent to a bar to listen for some information and now her arm was hurt slightly because of a fight breaking out. Jughead was debating on going with her but his dad refused and that was the final straw before Jughead stormed out and went to Archie's place. That's where we find FP, standing on the porch once again but this time he knocks and Archie is the one to open the door, once again. 

"Hey Mr. Jones," Archie said and stepped outside,"I'm guessing you're looking for Jughead."

"Please," FP said with another smirk,"I've known you since you were in diapers. No need for formalities." 

Archie blushed a scarlet red and that caused FP to let out a laugh at the boy's face. Archie shook his head with a smile and then his face went serious. 

"Jughead is in the kitchen if you want to talk to him," The teen said and opened the door a little bit,"I'll stay out here."

"Thanks, Red," FP and was about to walk into the house when Archie grabbed his wrist lightly. 

"Jughead needs his dad right now," Archie said and was once again looking FP in the eyes,"I know that when you told him he couldn't go with Toni it was because you were trying to keep him safe. In all honesty that is helping me sleep at night. You've been in and out of Juggie's life for years now and this is something like you tenth chance. Don't blow it." 

Archie then lets go of the man's wrist and walked down the steps before going over to the Cooper's house. FP stared at the boy for a while and smirked when he got a thumbs up before Betty opened the door and let Archie in. 

Taking a deep breath, FP grabbed the doorknob and walked inside the house. The kitchen light was on and when the man got to the opening he saw Jughead sitting at the counter with his laptop in front of him and a milkshake to the side. 

"Hey there kid," FP said and Jughead jumped a little bit before glaring lightly when he saw who it was. 

"What do you want?" Jughead asked lowly and just stared at his computer screen. 

"Red called me to say that you were here and you were all sad," FP said and grabbed an apple from the fruit bowl,"And I actually came to apologize." 

Jughead's head snapped upwards the stare at his father in shock. The boy's mouth opened and closed a couple of times before closing one more time and it stayed shut. FP released a sigh and then stared at his son as well. 

"I know you want to give the Serpents your all," He started out,"But as my son, I don't want you getting to hurt and I know Red agrees." 

"I want to help dad," Jughead said and looked at his hands,"This is the first thing I've been really committed too that isn't my relationship with Archie."

FP was about to comment when he noticed something in the side of his eye. Standing in the window was Archie and he was holding up a giant poster. FP smirked at what was on the card. 

**_"TALK ABOUT YOUR LITTLE SNAKE FEELINGS AND THEN HAVE JUGHEAD CALL ME! P.S. HE LIKES FOOD A LOT! SHOVE AN APPLE DOWN HIS THROAT OR SOMETHING!"_**  

With a light chucked FP looked back at his son and then placed a hand on his shoulder. 

"I'm not going to say it will be easy," FP started,"But I'll try and lay off a bit. But I want you to know I only kept you from going with everyone else because I do care about you." 

Jughead smiled at his dad and then started to tell him about what was going on with Archie and him. Neither of them noticed the boy outside giving a thumbs up to Betty as she smiled and released and laugh from her window. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all enjoyed! Thanks for all the support on this. I didn't think so many people would like it!


	3. The Teens

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Archie protects the teen Serpents from the Bulldogs, but of course everything has to have a cost.

Archie looked at the backs of the Bulldogs as they shoved past him, his chocolate brown eyes piercing the back of Reggie as he stormed out of the locker room. Taking a deep breath, the redhead picked up his stuff and then followed the team out but turned a different way. Taking in his surroundings, Archie noticed some people outside of the locker room staring at him as he walked by, most likely having heard the screaming match that went down. He didn't even have to say anything as he got to the cafeteria and saw everyone sitting at a giant table. Archie walked over and sat next to Jughead, ignoring the place going quite and the confused glances the Serpents and everyone gave him when the other Riverdale High students stared at him. 

Toni turned to look at the football player and noticed the earbuds placed in his ears. She tugged one out and Archie looked up at her and noticed everyone else staring at him. Before anyone could question him Moose came and stood behind the other player. 

"Dude, if coach hears about this you know you can lose your place on the team right?" Moose asked and everyone raised an eyebrow at the question.

"That's why Reggie and I are trying to keep him from finding out," Archie said lowly,"I've already got a text from Coach asking me why people were spreading rumors and I told them that they were just rumors."

"Listen," Moose said and no one missed his eyes sliding to Kevin a little bit before snapping back to Archie,"I know it all happened in the heat of the moment but don't you think this is too much? This is all the guys were talking about."

"I'm sorry for interrupting," Veronica said but you could really tell she wasn't,"What are you both talking about exactly?"

"It's nothing," Archie said at the same time Moose opened his mouth, causing the other boy to shut it right after,"Just some things for the team."

Immediately everyone at the table looked at the boys, their gazes landing on Archie. Jughead looked at the redhead and stored it in his mind that he was going to find out what was going on.

* * *

 

Sweet Pea walked down the halls as people moved out of the way, a smirk planted on his face as he got some scared looks. Walking down to his locker he stopped and put on the combination. He noticed two girls talking to each other, both of them trying to keep it quite. He listened in and froze at what they were talking about. 

"Did you hear about the fight against Archie Andrews?" the one with brown hair asked her friend.

"Yeah," the blonde replied,"I can't believe he's going against the entire football team."

"I heard it from outside the locker room," the first replied,"Reggie was yelling about how Archie was protecting all the serpents and how he wouldn't Reggie help get that one guy suspended. Finally, Reggie snapped and so did the others. Now they want to beat him." 

"All over those Serpents?" the second one asked with a little bit of disgust,"I knew they were bad news, I don't get why Archie protects them sometimes."

Sweet Pea slammed his locker shut and both the girls looked up shocked, quickly changing to fear when they saw who it was. Both of them grabbed their stuff and ran away from the boy, while Sweet Pea ran towards the next class that he had with all the serpent teens. Making his way towards the classroom door he noticed that they were all there and that the teacher hadn't arrived yet. Once he stepped foot in the classroom he closed the door and locked it. Luckily for them, this teacher tended to be very late.

"Did you know Andrews has stopped us from being suspended?" Sweet Pea demanded while pacing at the front.

Jughead looked up, a look of confusion clear on his face. Many others turned to look at the teen in the front of the classroom as he paced like he was trying to come up with a war plan.

"What are you talking about?" Toni asked as she hopped down from her seat,"And why are you pacing like your life depends on it."

"I heard two girls talking and after what happened at the lunch table I'm not surprised this is happening," Sweet Pea said and finally stopped to look at everyone in the room," Andrews has stopped all the Bulldogs from getting in our way and now things are happening."

"Well we have to stop it," Stacy said and pulled on the sleeves of her jacket,"Even if I don't want to say it, I've taken a liking to the redheaded Bulldog and the other Northsiders."

Everyone shook their heads to showed they agreed. The Northsiders that Jughead hung out with weren't like the others, and personally, they all liked that. Banging was heard on the door and they all turned to see their teacher looking really pissed off but they all smirked and Toni went to unlock the door.

"Sorry," She said with some sass and Mr. Thomson glared lightly before going to his desk and starting the lesson.

Unknown to everyone in the room, one Chuck Clayton smirked and decided to pay some of the Bulldogs a visit.

* * *

 

_Meet me at a different spot, your serpent friends found out, we had a deal, Andrews, don't blow it because you're too scared._

Archie stared at his phone screen before throwing it across the room. He laid at the foot of his bed and sighed loudly. Archie knew for a fact what spot Reggie wanted to meet at, a place only people on the team knew about. Taking a small bag, Archie lept out his window and hoped his dad was still taking his medicine and was fast asleep.

It didn't take long for one Archie Andrews to get to the meeting spot. Didn't stop the small amounts of anxiety that was churning at the bottom of his stomach. He knew he couldn't take on the entire football team. He spotted the fire burning and placed his bag next to a log. Reggie snickered and threw the pictures at him. Archie pulled them out of the envelope and looked at them all. Tons of pictures showed the Serpent teens vandalizing the school grounds, paint bottles in hands and others showed them in the classrooms after hours making a mess of the classrooms. Sure the school knew it was probably them, but without the proof, they couldn't do anything. Taking a deep breath, Archie looked up and threw the pictures in the fire then looked at all the Bulldogs.

"I hope your ready Andrews," Reggie said with a smirk and then cracked his knuckles.

* * *

 

"Where the hell are they?" Kyle demanded from his place next to the bleachers.

All of them had been waiting for two hours and so far none of them had shown up. Jughead had his head in his hands, his breathing uneven a little bit as his thoughts raced through his head. It snapped up when they heard shuffling off to the side. No taking a minute to think, all the serpents jumped up and turned towards the direction of the sound. Jughead and many of the others froze when the person walked into the light. Cheryl ran forward and stopped Archie from falling as he lost his balance and started to head for the floor. Cuts and bruises littered his body, an arm bent in a terrible angle and finally, everyone snapped into action.

"ARCHIE WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?!" Jughead yelled and moved the boys head to his lap, Archie gave a small whine but smiled anyway.

"The pictures are gone," Archie said a started coughing harshly,"Everythings okay."

His breathing evened out and then his eyes closed. Serpents started rushing to clean him up and then Jackson picked up the injured redhead and started to take him to the Whyte Wyrm.

* * *

 

Jughead burst through the doors of the bar and that caused all the Serpents inside to turn. They all jumped up and watched as he cleared a table and then all the other teens ran inside. Jackson carrying one unconscious football player while Toni ran her fingers through Cheryl's hair, the poor girl sobbing as Jackson put Archie on the table. Blood flowing freely out of a wound that was too deep. FP ran towards his son and stared down at the young boy.

"What happened to him?" FP asked and all the teens were pacing while Micheal worked on the boy, cleaning the wounds that had too much dirt in them and then stitching the ones that were too deep.

"He did something to get some pictures," Stacey said with a frown,"We didn't get the whole story before he passed out."

Many of the adults looked at the redhead, many of them with a sort of worry in their eyes. FP looked pissed and slammed his fists on a table off to the side.

"This isn't supposed to happen to Fred and his kid," He said with a furry,"I didn't want this to happen to any of your friends Jug."

Jughead laughed lightly before looking at his father.

"That's the thing," Jughead said while staring at Micheal working on his fallen boyfriend,"My friends and my boyfriend seem to have a hero complex."

Toni laughed off to the side and Cheryl cracked a smile.

"It's just Archie," Cheryl whispered and then coughing sounded throughout the room.

Archie sprang up in a panic and pulled away from Micheal. He gasped as one of the stitches broke off because of the jerking movement and Jughead ran up to him.

"Hey calm down," he said and grabbed the redhead's shoulders,"I've got you, you're here with the other Serpents, everyting is fine." 

Archie calmed down and slowly relaxed into Jughead's touch. Jughead ran his fingers through Archie's hair and the latter slowly feel asleep. Jughead looked at Micheal and nodded his head so the man would continue. Micheal started continuieing his work and Archie would flinch every now and then. After about ten more mintues Micheal was done and everyone was quite not to wake him. 

"We figure out what happened after he wakes up," FP said with all seriousness and everyone nodded around him. 

"Everyone at school is saying it was the Bulldogs," Jackson said and took a seat next to his father,"Something abour protecting us and all that stuff." 

Everyone slowly started to go home and now only Jughead and FP were left in the bar. 

"I'm gonna go tell Fred what happened," FP said standing up,"We both know that he's going to worry in the morning if Archie isn't back, we both know that he knows Archie is gone but he'll be worried if he isn't back." 

Jughead nodded and FP slapped him on the shoulder before walking out of the door, leaving both boys alone. Jughead placed a little kiss on Archie's forehead and then let sleep overcome him. Everyone that witnessed what happened that night not wanting to talk about it in the morning. Then again they knew they had too. All they knew at the moment is that the teens were going to thank Archie in the morning, even if they didn't know the full story yet. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for such the long wait! I hope you all enjoyed! Luckily my school is over for now so there will be more updates coming for all my things! Again, sorry for the wait!


	4. Jughead

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's common knowledge that Archie is protective of the people close to him, people just didn't know how true that was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is a school shooting in this chapter! Be warned!!!!

Jughead Jones knew that most of his friends had a hero complex of some sort, the main one was his boyfriend, Archibald Andrews. It's common knowledge that the redheaded football player is highly protective of his friends, hell, a couple weeks ago he was beat by the Bulldogs so the Serpents wouldn't get suspended. So yeah, people knew Archie was protective, they just didn't know how far he would fully go so that people close to him would be safe; and Jughead wished he had found out a different way. He would much rather have to scold the poor boy over a scratch instead of silently waiting for the loud boy to wake up tell him everything will be fine.

* * *

It was normal for the teachers pulling a random lock down. Granted it probably wasn't the best decision but they thought that their students should know what to do if there is ever someone actually in the building, so when the principle told everyone about the lock down it wasn't taken that seriously. When everyone heard the first shot ring outside in the hallways... that's when things started to be taken seriously. Students started stacking chairs in front of the doors and girls shook as their boyfriends held them close. The Serpents waited patiently for everything to pass over, they knew that someone must have called the cops by now and they all knew that cops cared about the _Northsiders_. What came as a surprise was the fact that someone from Mrs. Jennings class hadn't been in the classroom when the announcement was made, that person was heading to the bathroom, and that person was Archie.

* * *

"Someone please tell me my daughter is okay," Alice said while trying to push her way through the policemen. 

"Mrs. Cooper I'm as worried as you are," Sheriff Keller said,"Your daughter isn't the only one in there."

Alice was about to give a snappy remark when another shot was heard and ever more parents tried to get closer.

"Please everyone calm down," A police officer said,"We can't save your kids when we're trying to keep you all from the school." 

Many parents ignored what the man had to say and continued on but Alice sat with Fred, FP, Penelope (for once she actually cared), and Hermione, wanting nothing more than to see their children out of that damned school and safely in their arms. 

* * *

Archie controlled his breathing as shouts were getting closer to him and someone was banging on the classroom doors. He had heard the announcement after he was done and heading towards the bathroom exit but stopped when he heard what the principle was saying. Instead of running to the nearest classroom he just waited in the bathroom and hid in a stall, hoping this whole thing would be over soon. 

"Come out little children," the man's voice said even closer than before,"I only want to play." 

Archie felt a ripple of fear move through his body but he refused to move or make any noise that would give him away. That was until he heard a familiar whimper of pain, causing him to almost spring into action. He slammed open his bathroom stall and bolted to the opening of the bathroom to see a man with his face covered while he had a firm grip on Veronica's hair, pulling hard and causing the poor girl pain. He made rash movements and tried to punch the man in the stomach but he let go of Veronica's hair and moved out of the way. Archie grabbed the girl and dragged her down to the library door before pulling it open and pushing them both in. They blocked the door with some tables and then went to hide in the bookshelves, there they found Jughead, Toni, and Sweet Pea. 

"Catching up on your reading?" Archie asked to try and lighten the mood but it didn't really work. 

"There is someone shooting up the school and you're making a joke?" Toni asked in disbelief but then smirked a little bit,"Why do you always have to make people feel better?"

"You little punk!" The man said and started banging on the door,"You made me lose my fun!"

Veronica shivered and pushed herself further from the door and more into the wall. 

More pushing was heard and then it suddenly stopped. Archie peaked his head over and he crawled over to one of the windows near the door, trying to see of the man walked away but also trying to keep out of his line of site. His heart dropped when he saw the man had one of the emergency axes the school kept. The man walked towards the door and started slamming the ax down before the door ended up breaking open. Archie turned to see his friends trying to stay out of view and gave a tiny sigh till the man walked into their little safe haven. 

"Come out and play little girl," The man said and everyone could practically hear the glee in his voice and see the smile on his face,"It will feel really good I promise you that." 

Jughead motioned for Sweet Pea and Toni to take Veronica and move to the spot to their right since the man was coming right for them. Just as Jughead was going to follow their lead the man grabbed his wrist and pulled him out in the open. 

"You aren't the girl but you will do just fine," the man said with even more glee and without thinking Archie jumped out of his hiding spot just as Jughead kicked the man in his balls and that caused him to drop the gun

Archie ran forward and grabbed Jughead by the wrist before telling the others to go and run. They followed the redhead's orders and when the couple was about to follow them, the man got onto his knees and picked up his gun and aimed at Jughead. 

"You'll pay for that you little shit," He growled loud enough for Archie to hear and when he turned around the man fired the gun. 

Everything seemed to go in slow motion as Archie used his body to push Jughead out of the way, not missing Betty Cooper coming out of the shadows and slamming a dictionary on the back on the man's head. He didn't even feel the bullet hitting him in the side because the adrenaline was still pumping in his veins. One minute he was standing in Jughead's place and the next he was on the ground with blood pouring out of the wound and people screaming his name. Their faces kind of blurred together and he couldn't make out any of their names, who even were they? Blood was pooling out of him at an alarming rate and his vision went black as the rest of the world carried on. 

* * *

"It's been quite," Alice said loudly,"There were only four shots, maybe he ran out." 

Sheriff Keller was about to tell her that normally they don't just 'run out' after four shouts but he was stopped by Veronica bolting out of the school while screaming for help. Everyone immediately sprang into action checking the girl over but she just grabbed a paramedics hand and dragged him into the school, a group of police following them. More parents started pushing through but they were continued to be held back and after what seemed like hours finally a the group of police came back with an conscious man that was handcuffed and four paramedics rushed out with Archie on a stretcher, while Jughead was on one too. FP and Fred rushed forward and started asking questions, apparently Archie had been shot and was bleeding out fast while Jughead had gone into shock. Both boys were being rushed to the hospital while their parents rode in the back and Veronica was sobbing that it was all her fault.

* * *

Jughead had snapped out of it after an hour but it's been two weeks and Archie hasn't shown any signs of waking up. Multiple people have came and told Jughead that he should leave and get some rest but it just wasn't something that could be done. The dark boy had fallen for Archie and if the teen passed away, Jughead didn't think he would be able to live with himself knowing it was because of him Archie had died. 

"Please wake up," Jughead said while grabbing the boy's hand,"You are what make me happy, I need that. I love you." 

The heart monitor spiked a bit and Archie's fingers twitched in Jughead's hand. The hat wearing boy looked at the face of his lover and saw chocolate brown eyes staring back at him. 

"I love you too." 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'M SO SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG! My laptop is broken and is getting fixed so I haven't had anything to write with. Luckily a friend let my borrow her's while she is busy. I don't know when the next one is going to be up cause I'm also working on chapters for my other stories. AGAIN I'M SO SORRY!


	5. All

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sadly in this Hiram is somewhat present. He sent someone to do his dirty work but Archie never got involved in it...

Archie ran towards the Whyte Wyrm with Jughead and Cheryl, he knew if they didn't get there soon then the Serpents would be down a couple members and they couldn't let that happen. 

"Guys you have to get out," Archie said loudly when he threw the door to the bar open.

"What's going on?" Tomi asked and placed a kiss on Cheryl's cheek but the redhead pushed her girlfriend away lightly. 

"I'm sorry love but we don't have time for this," Cheryl said sadly, "The sheriff is on his way here and you all need to leave."

"Why?" Sweet Pea demanded, "We did nothing wrong. They can't charge us with anything."

"This is the Lodges' we are talking about," Jughead said with a frown, "They'll find something to charge us with."

"Where are we going to go?" a senior member asked and Archie gave a small laugh and raised his hand. 

"We'll go to my house." 

Some seemed a little hesitant but in the end they all got up and walked towards the door. Serpents that were injured had someone next to them and helping them walk. Archie led the way but made sure everyone stopped when a cop car went by. He looked around and noticed how multiple cars were searching for the missing gang and finally he came up with an idea. 

"I need someone's jacket or a spare one," Archie whispered and many of them made faces at the boy. 

"Why?" Toni asked with a perfect eyebrow raised. 

"Cause there are too many cars for us to get to my house," the redhead replied and gently took the jacket from one of the older members, "Jughead knows the way to my house. I'll distract the cars." 

Before anyone could stop the boy, he put on the jacket and then bolted into the middle of the street. He brought his hand up to his mouth and whistled loudly. A cop car slowly turned the corner and the sirens went off when they saw the back of the jacket. Archie turned and ran down the road while weaving into back allies. The rest of the teens watched as all the other car except one followed after the first and after a minute Jughead frowned harder and then lead the way.

* * *

 

Jughead knocked on the front door of the Andrews' household and silently waited for Fred to walk down the stairs and let them in. When the door finally opened Mr. Andrews was standing in the doorway but he also had a hand on his side. 

"Hey Mr. Andrews," Cheryl said happily and Fred smiled. 

"Come on in," He said and moved out of the way," Archie called earlier and said that he lost the cops but he's pretty far so it will be a while." 

"Where are we all staying?" Toni asked and looked around the tiny looking house. 

Fred laughed and opened up a door that was off to the side. It revealed a staircase and when he took the serpents down there they say tons of cots set up. 

"Archie used the basement as a gym over the summer but we recently changed it to a little bed in breakfast almost, "Fred said and opened up another door to show a bathroom," We thought that we could bring some people in if they needed help."

The serpents that were helping the hurt members placed them down on the open cots and watched in relief as their muscles started to relax. 

"Some of you will have to sleep in the living room and I'm sure Archie wouldn't mind if some slept in his room," Fred said with a smile and then he went towards the stairs. 

The serpents were left in silence before one of the older members laid down on a cot and released a sigh. 

"I guess not all northsiders are bad," she said softly and Jughead smiled before turning to a group that hadn't claimed a cot.

"Cheryl, are you going home tonight?" He asked the teen and she shook her head. 

"I would much rather stay with Toni instead of going home to an empty house," she replied and grabbed onto her girlfriend's hand tightly. 

Suddenly they heard the door upstairs slam shut and then a thud. The group that didn't claim a cot ran upstairs to see Archie breathing heavily on the ground and Fred walking in with a water bottle. 

"Do I want to know how you lost them?" He asked and Archie sat up to take the water.

"Personally I wouldn't want to know," Archie said with a laugh and chugged the water down.

"This is the group that doesn't have anywhere to sleep," Jughead said, catching the Andrews' attention, "There would have been more but some just slept on the floor."

Archie caught his breath a little more and then stood up.

"Someone can take the couch, two if they want to squeeze together," He said and pointed to the couch in the living room, "Then two can share my bed, two can have the air mattress, and then the rest will have to sleep on the floor." 

"If you don't mind Archie," Cheryl said with a sweet smile, "Toni and I will steal your bed." 

Archie watched his dad climb the stairs and made sure he got to the top safely before turning to the other redhead. 

"That's fine," He said with a smile, "Then Jughead and Sweet Pea can share the air mattress if they want." 

"I'll take the floor," Sweet Pea said before Jughead could open his mouth.

"Then Jug it looks like your having the air mattress all to yourself," Archie said and ran up the stairs before someone could open the mouth. 

"Wow," Toni said with a whistle, "He turned sleeping with you down before you could even offer."

Jughead scowled and showed the other teens the way to Archie's room. 

As the house grew silent and the only sounds were the even breathing. One Archie Andrews was sitting on the staircase and watching the door. No matter how hard he tried the idea of the Black Hood breaking in and coming after his dad wouldn't leave his mind. His body shook lightly and memories of blood covering his hands and clothes started to resurface. A new day started tomorrow and he needed to be ready for anything. 

* * *

 

"Dammit," Michael Minetta said and punched a wall, "They got away and now I have to call the boss. You know how bad it is for someone like me to be calling the prison?"

One of the other members that worked for Hiram Lodge backed away slightly before grabbing the phone and calling the prison they needed. He gave the phone over to the new Sheriff who grabbed it with an intense glare. 

"Yes this is Sheriff Minetta of Riverdale, I'm calling to talk to inmate Lodge," Michael said and waited as the officer put him on hold. 

"I hope this is good news," Hiram said after a while and just the sound of it put goosebumps all over the sheriff of Riverdale. 

"No, this isn't good news at all."


	6. Archie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The chapter you have all been waiting for...or not.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THE LONGEST CHAPTER!!!

Archie knew for a fact that he should be telling people what's wrong with him. The nights spent watching the door, just waiting for the Black Hood to walk through. The icy feeling in his veins when he even thinks about Pops Diner. The overwhelming guilt whenever he sees his dad. Archie knew he should tell someone, but he can't. Archie knew for a fact everyone had their own problems, Betty was dealing with enough as it is with her family, Veronica was dealing with her mom winning the mayor spot, and his dad and Jughead were helping with the serpents. His problems didn't matter,  _he_  didn't matter.

"What are you doing up boy?" FP asked as he watched the redhead from where he was standing by the basement door, "Don't you have like 30 more minutes before you have to be up for school?"

"Yeah," Archie said, "I sometimes wake up and just sit on the stairs to get tired."

He could see FP didn't believe him, the curiousness in the man's eyes. He put on a fake smile and FP still didn't look convinced but he went back down to the basement. Archie looked down at his watch and saw that it was 6:30, he has 30 minutes to take a shower and start making breakfast for the others. He walked up the stairs and got in the shower, taking a cold one cause he knew there were a lot of people in the house.

"What's up Arch?" Fred asked his son when he saw him coming down the stairs. 

"Nothing much," Archie said with a smile and then walked over to help flip the bacon, "Need any help?"

"Even if I didn't you would still help," Fred said with a smile and turned to pull waffles out of the maker. 

"I actually think I'm gonna head to school a little early," Archie said picking up some salt and sprinkling it on the eggs.

Fred was about to ask why but many hungry bodies came from the basement and the teens still in school walked down from Archie's room. 

"Where were you last night?" Jughead asked and got the attention of many other people, one of them being Fred.

"Archie you stopped watching right?" Fred asked and the silence continued, some not being awake enough but still listening. 

"Watching?" FP asked and Archie looked down in shame, he didn't mean to worry his dad again.

"Archie I told you to stop worrying," Fred said and placed his hand on his son's shoulder, "The man is gone. I'm safe."

"What'd going on?" Jughead asked and walked over to the father and son, "Why am I just now hearing about this?

"Archie decided to stay up and watch the door after I got home," Fred said and leaned heavily on the counter, "He thought that the Hood would come back and finish the job."

Jughead turned to tell his boyfriend that everything was ok but when he turned Archie was no longer there. 

"He left when Y'all started talking about how Fred was fine," Lucy, a senior member, said while pointing towards the back door, "He must not want to talk about it."

"Can you all look after him at school?" Fred asked and looked at the teenage serpents that finished eating their food, "He's been really stupid for a while and I swear something is going to go wrong."

"Of course," Toni said and many agreed with her, "It's the least we could do after you've welcomed up into your home."

Fred thanked them one more time before going upstairs and resting some more. FP gave them all a look as if telling them not to break anything and then followed his old friend up to make sure he was ok. It was 10 more minutes before the other teens walked out of the door and headed towards school, each with a goal in mind, something they knew they would do. 

* * *

"Hows the life been treating you, Andrews?" Reggie said and slammed Archie's locker shut.

"Come on Reggie," Archie said with a glare, "The only reason you beat me last time was because you had the rest of the team and I wasn't fighting back."

"Want to test that theory?" Reggie said with an even bigger smirk, "You don't know what I can and can't do."

"Hopefully you're ready to deal with me too," Sweet Pea said with his arms crossed and leaning on the lockers behind Archie.

"Sweet..." Archie started but stopped when the other teen put his arm around his shoulder.

"The serpents are protecting him now," he said with a glare at the other football player and then dragged the redhead away. 

* * *

Archie wasn't paying attention in class, instead, he was watching as dark clouds rolled in. 

"Mr. Andrews if you continue to goof off then I have no choice but to give you a detention," Mrs. Davidson said with a scowl. 

Archie's head snapped towards the front of the class when Cheryl and Toni were giving a presentation. Both girls looked like they didn't care if he was paying attention or not and they both sent little glares at the teacher. 

"I apologize, Mrs. Davidson, it won't happen again," He replied and started paying more attention as the girls talked about the creation and failure of Weimar Republic. 

Archie nodded in and out as they continued and he focused his attention out the window again. 

"MR. ANDREWS!" Mrs. Davidson yelled and Archie's eyes opened up in fear at the loud noise.

"What?" He asked like he was out of breath and he could hear Reggie snicker. 

"You have detention after school," She said with a growl. 

"Hold up," Toni said with a glare, "You've caught multiple people not paying attention way more than Archie and you didn't give them detentions."

"Well maybe I'm just done with you students being stupid," Davidson said with a glare towards the serpent teen. 

"Well maybe you should start looking for another job," Cheryl said getting up in the teacher's face, "I refuse for you to make him go to detention when there are other students being way worse than him."

"Miss Blossom, Miss Topaz, your presentation is over so go sit," Mrs. Davidson said and pointed towards their seats. 

Toni walked up to the teacher's desk and slammed her hand on the top. 

"Listen here bitch," Toni said with a heated glare, "That boy has been nothing but good for you all year. He is having a rough day so back off. I don't care if you're having a bad day, I bet he is having one that's way worse if he's not paying attention."

"You just landed yourself a place in detention as well," Mrs. Davidson said and glared harder at her student. 

"Then looks like I'll be there too," Cheryl said, "I hope your ready to look for another job Mrs. Davidson."

Archie stared at the two girls in shock as they started walking back towards their seats. Mrs. Davidson actually looked a little scared at Cheryl's words but she scowled and called on the next group to go. Archie was a little confused on why they did that but he just decided to ask them at lunch. 

* * *

"What is up with you guys?" Archie asked as the serpent teens kept looking around and glaring at anyone who stared at Archie even a little bit. 

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Jughead said and stole a fry off his boyfriend's plate, "This is how we normally act."

"Yeah right," Archie said while rolling his eyes, "Last time I checked Toni and Cheryl normally stay out of trouble when they're in school and now they have a detention."

"Why do you have a detention?" Veronica asked and stole one of Betty's raspberries from the girl's salad.

"Cause Mrs. Davidson was being a bitch cause she was having a bad day so I told her that," Toni said with a bright smile, "Cheryl decided to go along and say that she has a detention as well. She didn't really get one that I know of." 

"Hey," Archie said before anyone could reply, "My dad said that you can have the basement, living room, and my room again tonight so just go to my house when you guys are all done doing what you do."

The bell rang not too long after and Sidney offered to go with Archie to his next class. The boy smiled and grabbed onto her serpents jacket and pulling her along the way. 

* * *

Detention had to be the worst thing that Archie has ever dealt with. The seconds felt like hours, the silence surrounding them like a thick blanket, he hated it. Normally the silence didn't bother the redhead but today seemed to be pretty rough. Every little noise that sounded in the room felt so much louder, the sound of a pin falling just sent Archie into Pop Tats. 

"Archie," Toni said while placing her hand on the boy's shoulder, "Mrs. Davidson is being an even bigger bitch and making us leave. Will you be ok?" 

"Yeah I should be fine," Archie said with a smile. 

Toni and Cheryl stared at him a little bit and then headed for the door before the red loving girl stopped and looked at him. 

"Your dad said something about going to the doctors so FP will have to pick you up." 

After the words left her mouth she was grabbing onto Toni's hand and pulling her down the hallway. 

Archie put his head on his arms and fell asleep as the clock ticked on. 

"Well well well," a woman's voice said waking Archie up from his sleep, "This is the type of person Jonesy dates." 

Archie shot up and looked into the eyes of Penny Peabody. Surrounding him were Ghoulies, each holding something in their hands. 

"I don't know if you boyfriend's dad remembers what I said but I guess this will be a warning," she said with a sadistic smile and flicked her hand up.

Tow boys grabbed Archie from behind and slammed his head back onto the table. He struggled to push them off and even managed to kick a random person in the leg. He heard a crash and someone groaning before Penny was holding a knife up to his shoulder. 

"You really want to push me like that Red?" She asked with a sneer and she pushed the knife even closer. 

"What the hell do you think your doing?" FP said loudly and there was a lot of anger in his voice. 

Penny and the Ghoulies turned to see FP and Jughead both looking pissed and clenching their fists together. She smirked and took the knife off a little bit so that they could see a small cut with blood starting to leave the wound. 

"I decided that I wanted to take him," Penny said and then pointed towards the teacher's desk, "All we had to do was bribe the teacher with the life of her son and then she would do anything for us."

"Why do you want him, Penny?" Jughead asked, "Don't you already have everything you've wanted."

"I've wanted nothing more than to see both of your faces when you see someone close to you dead," She replied and brought her hand with the knife up and swung down. 

A sharp pain exploded in her side and she let out a pained scream as the chair that was thrown clattered to the floor. FP was standing satisfied by the doorway and watched as his son took out some Ghoulies before he went to get Archie. After Archie saw the chair fly through the air he yanked his wrist out of the hold and punched the one holding him. 

The ones that had seen that they could win ran through the halls and towards their cars. Jughead rushed over and brought Archie into a hug before pulling him towards the door. 

"What should we do with them?" FP asked and pointed towards the unconscious bodies scattered on the floor. 

"Just leave them and call the police," Jughead said with disgust and then returned to Archie, "Let's get you home Arch."

* * *

It was no surprise that Fred freaked out when he heard what happened. Even though Archie only one little cut his father still stressed about the event. What if they came back for more? Why did they pick Archie in the first place?

"Dad I told you I'm fine," Archie said while rolling his eyes as his dad gave him another look of concern, "I'm just pretty tired." 

Cheryl jumped up from her place in the little serpent circle and grabbed the other redhead's hand. 

"Let's go then," She said and lifted him up with all her strength, "Toni and I will allow you and Jughead to take the bed tonight." 

"Actually...," Archie went to say but shut his mouth when everyone in the room gave him a look. 

The boy huffed before allowing Cheryl to drag him up the stairs and into his room. The room was silent for a few minutes before Jughead turned to Sweet Pea, Micheal, Toni, and Sidney with a glare. 

"I want you to find out as much as you can about the ones that got away," He said with such a serious voice that FP and Fred were a little surprised, "You can handle them, I don't want them." 

The serpents that were mentioned smirked evilly and then walked out of the house with what some would call 'happy feet'. Jughead gave his goodnights and then walked up to join the other to in the football player's room. 

* * *

_There was blood on his hands. That's the first thing Archie realizes when he opens his eyes. The next was the faint smell of a hamburger being fried and then smell of freshly cooked fries. His eyes landed on a sink and then he knew where he was. Pop Tates. On shaky legs, he walked towards the door of the bathroom and pushed it open quietly._

_Bodies._

_All over the floor. Scattered. Somewhere holding on to each other while others held faces of frozen fear._

_His dad._

_Jughead._

_Mr. Jones._

_Cheryl and Toni._

_Betty and Veronica._

_Sweet Pea._

_Everyone. All gone. In the middle of it all was a man wearing all black with his back to Archie._

_"You could have saved them."_

_"Stop it...,"_

_"It was all your fault," the man continued, "If you had just been here earlier then they would be alive."_

_"Please don't," Archie said and it was like all the oxygen had left his body._

_"THIS IS YOUR FAULT!" the man screamed and Archie covered his ears while letting out a pained whimper._

_It was him. He killed them. The blood was on his hands._

_Chains shot out from the ground and grabbed onto his ankle. Instead of shiny grey metal, it was like they were stained in blood._

_"Archie... wake...,"_

_It was him. If he didn't go to Pop Tates that day then his dad wouldn't have been shot. It was all HIS fault._

_"Archie!"_

The teen's eyes shot open and he gasped for breath. He looked around the room after his eyes had adjusted to the light and he saw a worried looking dad, Jug, Sweet Pea, Toni, and Cheryl. Out by the door, FP was keeping the others from coming into the room and that's when Fred placed his hand on his son's shoulder. Archie flinched away from the touch but relaxed when he saw it was his dad. 

"Come on Arch," Fred said and pulled his son out of his bed and towards the door. 

Everyone and I mean EVERYONE, was surrounding the door leading into Archie room but then moved out of the way when Fred slowly brought the boy to the living room. 

"I'm sorry if I woke you all up," Archie said quietly after he was settled on the coach. 

"It's ok," Snake said from the front, "We weren't sleeping anyway." 

Archie made no movement to show he heard the man but the could tell he was still awake, drifting back to sleep, but still awake. 

"You sleep Red," FP said with crossed arms, "No one can hurt you now. We made sure of that."

"Thank you," Archie said softly and went into a dreamless state. 

"Your welcome," everyone whispered back and Fred had a big smile on his face. 

"Guess you aren't as bad as they say."

"Serpents protect their own." 

* * *

A lonely Ghoulie walked towards the main base. He had spent the night with his girl so he didn't have any fun with the redhead but he couldn't wait to hear the pain that was caused to him. As he got closer he still didn't hear any noise and when he finally opened the door that's when he saw it. The place was trashed, unconscious bodies filling the room, someone had started a fight. He would have laughed if he didn't see a note sitting next to someone's head. 

**"Touch one of our redheaded serpents again and we'll make it more painful than this time."**

Let's just say nothing was heard from the Ghoulies for a month or two.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Am I the only one that's sad its over? It's been an amazing journey everyone. I would like to thank you all for reading. Let's get one big discussion in the comments lol. What was your favorite chapter? I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and book as a whole! >3

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you all liked it. Feel free to leave a comment if you want! :)


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